To mark No Smoking Day today, (Wednesday 9 March), Newham Council have launched a ‘Thank You For Not Smoking’ competition for children and young people.
Smoke free environments are crucial to reducing the harms from second hand smoke but also to reducing the visual exposure of people smoking, especially to children and young people. Those who live with parents who both smoke are three times more likely to become smokers than their peers who do not live with smokers. A recent analysis by Action on Smoking and health, estimated that 781 11-15 year olds start smoking in Newham annually, and that two thirds of adult smokers started before they reached 18 years old. Raising awareness of the harms of smoking and supporting people to quit is integral to the council’s work to make Newham tobacco free by 2030. This is a key priority as set out in Newham’s 50 Steps to a Healthier Newham strategy.
The competition is open to all Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 pupils in Newham and three lucky winners (one from each key stage) will take away a range of prizes including a £20 cinema voucher, an activity bag packed with goodies and a £50 book voucher for their school. The winners will also have their artwork displayed in bus stops around the borough throughout June this year for residents to see.
For details on how to enter and the closing date of the competition, please visit www.newham.gov.uk/thankyoufornotsmoking
Quit Well Newham will also be outside Green Street Library on Wednesday for No Smoking Day from 10am – 3pm. The Quit Well specialist advisors will be there offering advice on what help is available to Newham residents, to give up smoking. The team will also be providing Carbon monoxide (CO) readings on the day.
For information about Newham’s free quit smoking service, visit
https://www.newham.gov.uk/health-adult-social-care/help-quit-smoking
Ben Levinson OBE, Head Teacher at Kensington Primary School says “Children who see smoking as part of everyday life are more likely to take it up themselves. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness among our pupils and staff about the harms of smoking and the benefits of smoke-free environments.
Councillor Sarah Ruiz said, “We want every child in Newham to have the opportunity to live a healthy, smoke free life. The aim of this competition is to raise awareness among children and young people about the harms of smoking, but also to let parents, caregivers and teachers who smoke know about Newham’s free stop smoking service which can help them to quit.”
Dr Dr Farzana Hussein. The Project Surgery added “Smoking is the single greatest driver of health inequalities. It increases risk of serious illness and drives families into poverty. I fully support this campaign and look forward to seeing the posters and using them to encourage and support my patients to quit smoking.